


Tales from the Argo

by Lancelot_of_the_revolution



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-09 05:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17400689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lancelot_of_the_revolution/pseuds/Lancelot_of_the_revolution
Summary: "Heroes wanted!Join the crew of the greatest ship in historyFame! Fortune! Certain death! What more could a hero ask for!See Jason for details"(retelling of the story of Jason and the Argonauts)





	Tales from the Argo

Atalanta found herself sitting next to a couple she could only describe as adorable.

  
Neither of them over 5'4", a good foot shorter than Atalanta. The girl had the wide eyes, pointed ears, and otherworldly beauty that immediately pegged her as a nymph. The boy might have had divine parentage, or he might have just been an exceptionally pretty mortal. Whatever he was, he looked nervous about it.   
  
It was the girl who spoke up first, "You look disgruntled," she said to Atalanta, calling over both the deafening noise of the meeting hall and her partner, who was sitting between them, "Did captain stick-up-his-ass try to keep you off the ship too?"   
  
Atalanta snorted, "Yeah, apparently he can't comprehend the idea of an independent woman," this Jason fella had tried his damndest to talk Atalanta out of joining the crew, claiming the presence of such a beautiful woman on the ship would cause jealous infighting among the crew. As far as Atalanta was concerned, that was the crew's problem-- it wasn't like she was giving them anything worth fighting over.   
  
"Tell me about it- happily married women seem to be on his shit list, too. I'm Eurydice, by the way, and this is my husband, Orpheus," Orpheus raised a hand in greeting when his name was said but otherwise kept his attention up front, to the empty center of the room where Jason would allegedly be at some point in the near future.   
  
"I'm Atalanta," that got Orpheus' attention.   
  
"Atalanta? The famed huntress? The swift footed servant of Artemis, who drew first blood of the Calydonian Boar?" Orpheus spoke quickly, with a rhythmic cadence that reminded Atalanta of a steady drum beat.   
  
"How do you know all that about me?"   
  
Orpheus gave an embarrassed little smile, "I was commissioned to write a song for a festival for Artemis a while back, they had me include a verse about you-- that's sort of what I do. I'm a musician."   
  
"he's  _ the _ musician-- the very best among mortals," Eurydice chimed in. Atalanta noticed it in her squeezing his hand, in the way her voice swelled when she spoke… not to mention the smile she brought to Orpheus' face. They were absolutely in love. Sickeningly in love.   
  
It was kind of sweet.   
  
"Orpheus... Sounds familiar, have I heard any of your music?" Atalanta desperately didn't want to be talking right now, but these two were the best distraction she was going to get from the crowd around her. Large groups of people were not her Forte. The noise was beginning to make her anxious.   
  
"You might have, we do travel around a lot…"   
  
"You'd know if you had," Eurydice smiled, "Like I said, best mortal musician in the world-- in fact, he's the son of Calliope, the muse."   
  
"Darling," Orpheus muttered, "I'm fairly certain heracles is on this boat. If there's ever been an inappropriate time to brag about godly parents..."   
  
"I'll brag about my husband as much is I damn well please!" Eurydice exclaimed in mock indignation, "I don't know anyone more worthy of being bragged about!"   
  
There is was again, the smile that Eurydice's words brought to Orpheus' face-- soft and sweet and absolutely smitten. Atalanta pushed the conversation forward.   
  
"So is that what you're nervous about? That your godly parent isn't impressive enough? Because I'm a full blooded mortal who was raised by bears so I definitely wouldn't say you're the bottom of the heap in that regard." Orpheus and Eurydice must have already known that about her, because they didn't react to that information with the shock most everyone else did.    
  
"Gods, is it that obvious that I'm nervous?"   
  
"No," Atalanta lied-- in actuality, she had no idea, "I'm just really good at body language," that was the truth, "Like I said, I was raised by bears. It's sort of how they communicate." thirteen years of her only interactions being with either wild animals or the goddess Artemis herself. She was lucky she could speak at all. She still wasn't very good at the whole 'understanding the right thing to say and when' thing.   
  
"Oh,” Orpheus still didn't seem too happy,  ”Well, you're almost right. I don't really want to talk about it…"

 

“That's okay, I'm sorry I-” Atalanta was interrupted a whistle coming from the stage in the center of the room. Captain Jason himself was standing there trying, and failing, to get the attention of the forty plus crew members in the room. Evidently, Atalanta was the only one to hear or see him. Or at least, the only one to care. 

 

She tapped Orpheus’ arm and pointed to Jason in a ‘we should quiet down’ gesture. Orpheus did the same for Eurydice. 

 

The pair of them looked to the front, and it didn't take long for the nervousness on Orpheus’s face to get mixed with annoyance. Atalanta had a guess as to why-- it seemed as though the three on them were the only ones willing to shut up for whatever Jason had to say. Everyone else was still talking. 

 

Orpheus knit his brows and started humming quietly. The tune was soft, barely there, and absolutely indescribable in beauty and complexity. It sounded as though Orpheus were hiding a string quartet in his throat. the effect was obvious. Everyone in a three person radius fell silent. Atalanta’s mouth fell open. Slowly, Orpheus’ humming got louder and louder, until his was the only voice left in the room. 

 

As soon as he'd taken over everyone's attention, Orpheus cleared his throat, “Yes, well… I believe the captain has something to say.” 

 

Jason shook his head as if to clear it, amazement still obvious on his face, “Thank you, Orpheus… yes, I've called a meeting to discuss the purpose of this voyage. I know I promised you all fame and fortune, but I never told you how it would come about-- I think it's time I cleared that up,” Jason paused for what he probably thought was dramatic effect, but Atalanta decided it was just annoying, “You're all here to help me get the golden fleece!”

 

A murmur rushed through the crowd. A man with brilliant feathered white wings and no shirt to speak of stood up, “You called us up here for a suicide mission?!”

 

“That is not what I said-”

 

“It's what we heard,” said a second winged man who looked an awful lot like the first. 

 

“Look, You guys are the greatest heroes in the world. You can handle a little sheepskin.” 

 

“It ain't the sheepskin we're worried about,” another man, this one absolutely wingless, piped up, “It's the getting there and getting back that's bothering us!”

 

The first winged man spoke again, “The hell do you even need the golden fleece for, anyway?”

 

Jason paused for a moment before he spoke, “There's a long story behind that… I was sent on a quest by a… less than trustworthy family member, a task I must complete if I ever want to live a happy life--”

 

“We've all been there, bud.” A man in the front row called out. 

 

“Thank you for the support, Heracles--”

 

“I ain't finished yet. I said, we've all been there, but I don't know anyone else who's felt the need to involve forty-some strangers into their personal business.”

 

“you're all getting paid for this, and you volunteered.” Jason pointed out. 

 

“Fair enough,” Heracles shrugged, “We volunteered. Okay. Sure, we all volunteered. Better be one hell of a story, though,”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“your story? You said it was a long one. Better be a good one, too,”

 

“Are you asking me--”

 

“To tell us the whole story of why you need the golden fleece, yes, you dumb son of a bitch. You've got us all gathered here, and we've got time. If you want us to help, we need to know what the hell we're fighting for.”

 

“Hell yeah!” Wing Man Number One said, “Story time!”

 

Everyone else hollered in agreement. Jason shrugged, “Okay, I guess I've been out voted… oh jeeze, where do I start?”


End file.
